CN117242797A

CN117242797A - Method and device for determining type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook

Info

Publication number: CN117242797A
Application number: CN202180097432.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 雷海鹏
Original assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Current assignee: Lenovo Beijing Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-11
Filing date: 2021-05-11
Publication date: 2023-12-15
Also published as: US20240243857A1; EP4338435A1; WO2022236673A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to HARQ-ACK codebook determination. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may comprise: determining that HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are to be multiplexed in PUCCH in a first slot, wherein the PDSCH on each of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a UE-specific first RNTI and the PDSCH on each of the second plurality of PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a second RNTI common to a group of UEs including the UE; and transmitting the PUCCH in the first slot.

Description

Method and device for determining type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication technology and, more particularly, to hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook determination.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. Wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of wireless communication systems may include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-advanced (LTE-a) systems, or LTE-a Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may also be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems.

In a wireless communication system, a User Equipment (UE) may monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in one or more search spaces. The PDCCH may carry Downlink Control Information (DCI) that may schedule an uplink channel, such as a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a downlink channel, such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). In the case of DCI scheduling PDSCH, the UE may transmit hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback (e.g., HARQ-ACK information bits) for PDSCH through PUSCH or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). For example, the PUCCH may carry a HARQ-ACK codebook that includes HARQ-ACK feedback information bits for the PDSCH.

There is a need to handle HARQ-ACK codebook determination in a wireless communication system.

Disclosure of Invention

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for wireless communication. The method may comprise: determining that hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception occasions and HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are to be multiplexed in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) in a first time slot, wherein the PDSCH on each of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a first Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) specific to the UE and the PDSCH on each of the second plurality of PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a second RNTI common to a group of UEs including the UE; and transmitting the PUCCH in the first slot.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communication performed by a Base Station (BS). The method may comprise: indicating that hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback for PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception occasions and HARQ-ACK feedback for PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are to be multiplexed in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) in a first time slot, wherein the PDSCH on each of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a first radio network temporary identifier (UE) specific to a User Equipment (UE) and the PDSCH on each of the second plurality of PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a second RNTI common to a group of UEs including the UE; and receiving the PUCCH in the first slot.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. According to some embodiments of the disclosure, the device may comprise: at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon; at least one receiving circuit; at least one transmission circuit; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receive circuit, and the at least one transmit circuit, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and the computer-executable instructions may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device to perform methods according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. The device may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The processor and the transceiver may be configured to interact with each other to perform methods according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Drawings

In order to describe the manner in which the advantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, the disclosure is described by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of HARQ-ACK feedback transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) configuration in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3A illustrates an exemplary TDRA configuration in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3B illustrates an exemplary TDRA configuration in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary procedure of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary procedure of wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

The detailed description of the drawings is intended as a description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding, embodiments are provided in specific network architectures and new service scenarios, such as third generation partnership project (3 GPP) 5G (NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) release 8, and the like. Please consider that, with the development of network architecture and new service scenarios, all embodiments in the disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems; and, furthermore, the terminology set forth in the disclosure may be changed, which should not affect the principles of the disclosure.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include some UEs 101 (e.g., UE 101a and UE 101 b) and base stations (e.g., BS 102). Although a particular number of UEs 101 and BSs 102 are depicted in fig. 1, it is contemplated that any number of UEs and BSs may be included in the wireless communication system 100.

The UE 101 may include computing devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras), vehicle-mounted computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems), and the like. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 101 may include a portable wireless communication device, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a device with a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, or any other device capable of sending and receiving communication signals over a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 101 includes a wearable device, such as a smart watch, a fitness band, an optical head-mounted display, or the like. Further, the UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, mobile device, mobile station, user, terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, fixed terminal, subscriber station, user terminal, or device, or described using other terminology used in the art. The UE 101 may communicate with the BS102 via an Uplink (UL) communication signal.

BS102 may be distributed over a geographic area. In particular embodiments of the present disclosure, BS102 may also be referred to as an access point, access terminal, base station, base unit, macrocell, node B, evolved node B (eNB), gNB, home node B, relay node, or device, or described using other terminology used in the art. BS102 is typically part of a radio access network that may include one or more controllers communicatively coupled to one or more corresponding BSs 102. BS102 may communicate with UE 101 via Downlink (DL) communication signals.

The wireless communication system 100 may be compatible with any type of network capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with wireless communication networks, cellular telephone networks, time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) based networks, code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) based networks, orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) based networks, LTE networks, 3GPP based networks, 3GPP 5g networks, satellite communication networks, high altitude platform networks, and/or other communication networks.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with 5G NR of 3GPP protocols. For example, BS102 may transmit data on DL using an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme and UE 101 may transmit data on UL using a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) or a cyclic prefix-OFDM (CP-OFDM) scheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, such as WiMAX, among others.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS102 and the UE 101 may communicate using other communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 series wireless communication protocols). Further, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, BS102 and UE 101 may communicate via licensed spectrum, while in some other embodiments, BS102 and UE 101 may communicate via unlicensed spectrum. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol implementation.

Two types of HARQ-ACK codebooks may be defined for HARQ-ACK multiplexing for multiple received PDSCH. One may be named a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook (also referred to as a "semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook"), and the other may be named a type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook (also referred to as a "dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook"). The definition of a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook and a type 2 HARQ-ACK codebook is specified in the 3GPP specifications.

For example, the size of the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., the number of HARQ-ACK information bits contained therein) may be independent of the actual scheduling case. For example, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits may be determined based on a parameter list including, for example, PDSCH-to-HARQ timing values (also referred to as "HARQ-ACK feedback timing set" or "K1 set"), number of Code Block Groups (CBGs) per Component Carrier (CC), and/or others. The K1 set may be configured to the UE via RRC signaling messages or predefined in the standard. For example, the K1 set may be configured by higher layer parameters, such as dl-DataToUL-ACK in a PUCCH-config Information Element (IE).

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for UEs receiving multicast transmissions, e.g., PDSCH scrambled by a group common Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI), both type 1HARQ-ACK codebooks and type 2 HARQ-ACK codebooks may be supported. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for ACK/NACK-based feedback, a UE receiving multicast may optionally be configured with a separate PUCCH configuration for multicast. Otherwise, PUCCH configuration (e.g., PDSCH scrambled by UE-specific RNTI) for unicast transmission is applicable. For example, the UE may be configured with a PUCCH-config IE for multicasting and another PUCCH-config IE for unicasting.

When configuring separate PUCCH configurations for unicast and multicast transmissions, the UE may be configured with separate K1 sets for unicast and multicast transmissions. The K1 set will have a large impact on the type 1HARQ-ACK codebook determination according to, for example, the pseudo code in 3GPP specification TS 38.213. When HARQ-ACK feedback for unicast and multicast transmissions is to be multiplexed in the same type 1HARQ-ACK codebook, the problem to be solved is how to construct a type 1HARQ-ACK codebook based on separate K1 sets for unicast and multicast transmissions.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution to the above-described problem is to use a union of the K1 set for unicast and the K1 set for multicast. For PUCCH transmissions in a particular slot, the UE may determine a downlink association set for unicast and multicast based on the union of the two K1 sets. The UE may further determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions in each slot of the downlink association set that correspond to each value in the union of the two K1 sets.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of HARQ-ACK feedback transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In fig. 2, it is assumed that the K1 set for unicast is configured as {1,2,3,4}, and the K1 set for multicast is configured as {2,3}, the union of the K1 set for unicast and the K1 set for multicast is {1,2,3,4}. Then, a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook is determined based on the union {1,2,3,4} of the two K1 sets.

For example, the UE may determine a downlink association set (slot set # 1) for both unicast and multicast based on the union of the two K1 sets. Assuming PUCCH transmission in slot n+4, slot set #1 may include a slot including candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for a unicast PDSCH (if transmitted) and candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for a multicast PDSCH (if transmitted) to be responded with HARQ-ACK feedback (e.g., ACK or NACK) in the same type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook in slot n+4.

For example, based on the union {1,2,3,4} of the K1 set, the UE may determine that the set of slots #1 includes slot n (corresponding to the K1 value "4"), slot n+1 (corresponding to the K1 value "3"), slot n+2 (corresponding to the K1 value "2"), and slot n+3 (corresponding to the K1 value "1").

As indicated by the solid arrows in fig. 2, based on the K1 set for unicast, there are four slots (slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, and slot n+3) available for unicast PDSCH transmission, with corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback in slot n+4. However, as indicated by the dashed arrow in fig. 2, based on the K1 set for multicasting, there are actually only two slots (slot n+1 and slot n+2) available for multicast PDSCH transmissions, with corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback in slot n+4. Thus, the above solution based on the union of the two K1 sets would result in unnecessary HARQ-ACK feedback overhead.

Further, candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slots may depend on a Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) table, which may be configured to the UE via RRC signaling messages or predefined in the standard. For example, the TDRA table may be configured by higher layer parameters (e.g., pdsch-TimeDomainAlllocation). In some examples, each entry of the TDRA table may include a Start and Length Indicator Value (SLIV) that indicates a start symbol and length of a scheduled transmission (e.g., PDSCH) in a slot.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) configuration 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The UE may be configured with a TDRA table 320 for unicast transmissions and a TDRA table 330 for multicast transmissions. TDRA table 320 may include four SLIVs 321-327 and TDRA table 330 may include two SLIVs 331 and 333. As shown in fig. 3, the slevs 321-327 in the TDRA table 320 for unicast transmissions overlap each other, which is referred to as one non-overlapping slev in the context of the present disclosure. Therefore, according to the TDRA table 320, at most one PDSCH may be scheduled in a slot. Thus, the UE may determine from the TDRA table 320 that there is one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the scheduled slot. That is, the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the TDRA table may represent the number of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities per slot.

In some examples, the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions per slot may depend on the UE capability. Assuming that the UE cannot receive more than one PDSCH per slot, depending on the UE's capability, the UE may determine that there is only one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the scheduled slot. For UEs that do not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, it may not be desirable for the UE to be configured with more than one non-overlapping SLIV in the TDRA table.

Similarly, according to the TDRA table 330, at most one PDSCH may be scheduled in a slot. Thus, the UE may determine from the TDRA table 330 that there is one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the scheduled slot.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the construction of the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook may be based on a union of the TDRA table for unicast services and the TDRA table for multicast services (if the tables are configured separately).

Fig. 3A illustrates a TDRA table union 340 of TDRA table 320 and TDRA table 330. As shown in fig. 3A, TDRA table union 340 includes ssivs 321-327 from TDRA table 320 and ssivs 331 and 333 from TDRA table 330 that overlap each other. Thus, there is only one non-overlapping SLIV in the TDRA table union 340. Thus, the UE may determine from the TDRA table union 340 that there is one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the scheduled slot (e.g., slot in slot set #1 or slot set # 2).

Fig. 3B illustrates an exemplary TDRA configuration 300B according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE may be configured with a TDRA table 350 for multicast or unicast transmissions, which may contain four SLIVs 351-357. As shown in fig. 3B, SLIV 357 does not overlap with SLIVs 351 and 353, which is referred to as two non-overlapping SLIVs in the context of the present disclosure. Thus, the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slots according to the TDRA table 350 is two, which may correspond to SLIVs 351 and 357 or SLIVs 353 and 357, respectively.

In some examples, the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions per slot may depend on the UE capability. Assuming that the UE can receive two PDSCH per slot, the UE can determine that there are two candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot, depending on the UE's capability. For UEs supporting reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may be configured with more than one non-overlapping SLIV in the TDRA table.

For a time slot contained in a downlink association set for unicast transmission and a downlink association set for multicast transmission, when there are two or more non-overlapping SLIVs in the union of the unicast TDRA table and the multicast TDRA table, the problem to be solved is how to determine candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in this time slot. That is, how to determine the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in this slot. Since each candidate PDSCH reception occasion may correspond to a particular number of HARQ-ACK information bits (e.g., one HARQ-ACK information bit in the case of at most a single codeword per PDSCH and no CBG-based transmission, and more than one HARQ-ACK information bit in the case of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or CBG-based retransmission), the determination of candidate PDSCH reception occasions will be relevant to the type 1HARQ-ACK codebook determination. In addition, the number of PDSCH that may be received in one slot may be related to the capability of the UE. Different UEs may have different capabilities, e.g., some UEs may only receive one PDSCH per slot, while some UEs may receive two PDSCH per slot. This UE capability should also be taken into account when generating the HARQ-ACK codebook.

Further, even if the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions for unicast and multicast is determined, another problem to be solved is how to generate a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook. For example, how to arrange HARQ-ACK feedback for unicast in a type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook to be transmitted on the same PUCCH as HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast.

Another problem to be solved for type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook determination is how to generate corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback when there is only one non-overlapping SLIV in the union of unicast and multicast TDRA tables or when the UE cannot support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot. For example, when PDSCH is not received in a slot contained in both the downlink association set for unicast transmission and the downlink association set for multicast transmission, the NACK bit for this slot should be counted as HARQ-ACK feedback for unicast or HARQ-ACK feedback for multicast? For example, assuming that the UE is configured with separate TDRA tables for unicast and multicast (as shown in fig. 3), when the UE does not receive any PDSCH in slot n+1 (as shown in fig. 2), the NACK bits should be mapped to this slot. However, a problem is whether this NACK bit should be included in the HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast or in the HARQ-ACK codebook for multicast.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions to the problems described above. For example, a solution for determining a type 1HARQ-ACK codebook is presented. Further details regarding embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated below in conjunction with the appended drawings.

Although the above-described problems and the following solutions are described with respect to a particular network architecture or application scenario, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described problems may exist in other particular network architectures or application scenarios, and the solution may still solve the above-described problems.

The UE may receive unicast transmissions (e.g., PDSCH scrambled by a UE-specific RNTI (e.g., cell RNTI (C-RNTI)), which is also referred to as "unicast PDSCH") and multicast transmissions (e.g., PDSCH scrambled by a group common RNTI (e.g., group RNTI (G-RNTI)), which is also referred to as "multicast PDSCH"). The UE may determine that HARQ-ACK feedback for multiple candidate PDSCH reception occasions is to be multiplexed in the same PUCCH in a slot (hereinafter, "slot #u1"). For example, the PUCCH may carry a HARQ-ACK codebook that includes HARQ-ACK information bits for multiple candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

The plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions may include a candidate PDSCH reception occasion for unicast transmission (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1") and a candidate PDSCH reception occasion for multicast transmission (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1"). The candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1 may be included in a downlink association set (hereinafter, "slot set #a1") for unicast. The candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1 may be included in a downlink association set (hereinafter, "slot set #b1") for multicast.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the set of slots #a1 may be determined according to a HARQ-ACK feedback timing set (hereinafter, "K1 set #a1") configured for unicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1). The slot set #b1 may be determined according to a HARQ-ACK feedback timing set (hereinafter, "K1 set #b1") configured for the multicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1). In some other embodiments, the K1 set #a1, the K1 set #b1, or both, may be predefined in the standard.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for a slot (hereinafter, "slot #m1") included in the slot set #a1 and the slot set #b1, the candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the slot #m1 may be determined according to a union of a TDRA table (hereinafter, "TDRA table #a1") configured for unicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1) and a TDRA table (hereinafter, "TDRA table #b1") configured for multicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1).

For a slot included only in the slot set #a1, a candidate PDSCH reception occasion in this slot (e.g., a candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #a1) may be determined from the TDRA table #a1. For a slot included only in the slot set #b1, a candidate PDSCH reception occasion in this slot (e.g., a candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #b1) may be determined from the TDRA table #b1.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PUCCH may carry two HARQ-ACK codebooks, for example, one HARQ-ACK codebook (hereinafter, "HARQ-ACK codebook #a1") for the candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1 and the other HARQ-ACK codebook (hereinafter, "HARQ-ACK codebook #b1") for the candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1. The method for generating the two HARQ-ACK codebooks is described in further detail below.

First, as described above, for the PUCCH to be transmitted in the slot #u1, the slot set #a1 may be determined according to the K1 set #a1, and the slot set #b1 may be determined according to the K1 set #b1. Candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may then be determined from the first to last slot within the union of slot set #a1 and slot set #b1. For example, for a slot included only in the slot set #a1, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in this slot are determined according to the TDRA table #a1. The candidate PDSCH reception occasion belongs to the candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1. For example, the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in this slot may be equal to the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in TDRA table #a1. Similarly, for a slot included only in the slot set #b1, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in this slot are determined from the TDRA table #b1. The candidate PDSCH reception occasion belongs to the candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1.

For slots (e.g., slot #m1) included in both slot set #a1 and slot set #b1, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in slot #m1 are determined from the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1. For example, in the case where the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the union of the TDRA table #a1 and the TDRA table #b1 is 1 (for example, refer to fig. 3A), two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined in the slot #m1. In other words, although at most one PDSCH can be actually transmitted in the slot #m1, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are assumed in the slot #m1.

One of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1") belongs to a candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1, and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2") belongs to a candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1.

In some examples, UE capability should be considered when determining the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot. For example, when the UE does not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may determine one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in slots included only in slot set #a1 or slot set #b1 and two candidate PDSCH reception occasions in slot #m1. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a TDRA table according to its capabilities. For example, when more than one PDSCH per slot is not supported, the configured TDRA table may include one non-overlapping SLIV.

After determining the candidate PDSCH reception occasions, a HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 may be generated for the PDSCH on each of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #a1. The HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 may be generated for the PDSCH on each of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #b1.

For example, if a PDSCH is received in a slot included only in the slot set #a1 or the slot set #b1, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception occasion in this slot according to the decoding result of the PDSCH and multiplex the HARQ-ACK information bits in the corresponding HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 or HARQ-ACK codebook #b1). Otherwise, if PDSCH is not received in a slot included only in slot set #a1 or slot set #b1, the UE may generate a NACK bit for the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception occasion in this slot.

As understood by those of skill in the art, the number of HARQ-ACK information bits for a single PDSCH or candidate PDSCH reception occasion may vary, e.g., one in the case of at most a single codeword per PDSCH and no CBG-based transmission, and more than one in the case of MIMO or CBG-based retransmissions.

Regarding slot #m1, when only a unicast PDSCH is received in this slot, this unicast PDSCH may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 and Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the unicast PDSCH on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 according to the decoding result of the unicast PDSCH and multiplex the HARQ-ACK information bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #a1. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 for padding and multiplex the NACK bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #b1.

When only the multicast PDSCH is received in slot #m1, this multicast PDSCH may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 and DTX may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 for padding and multiplex the NACK bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #a1. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the multicast PDSCH on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 according to the decoding result of the multicast PDSCH and multiplex the HARQ-ACK information bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #b1.

When PDSCH is not received in slot #m1 (i.e., neither unicast PDSCH nor multicast PDSCH is received), DTX may be assumed on both candidate PDSCH reception occasions #1 and # 2. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 for padding and multiplex the NACK bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #a1. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 for padding and multiplex the NACK bits in HARQ-ACK codebook #b1.

According to various approaches, the UE may multiplex HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1 in HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 and HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1 in HARQ-ACK codebook #b1. For example, multiplexing may be based on an order of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time domain, such as an order of slot indices of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

After generating the two HARQ-ACK codebooks, HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 and HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 may then be arranged into one HARQ-ACK codebook carried by the PUCCH to be transmitted in slot #u1. In some examples, HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 may be arranged before HARQ-ACK codebook #b1. In some other examples, HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 may be arranged before HARQ-ACK codebook #b1.

In this way, the codebook sizes of HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 and HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 do not change, regardless of whether PDSCH is received, which will avoid any misunderstanding of HARQ-ACK codebook between UE and BS.

Referring back to fig. 2, based on the configured K1 set {1,2,3,4} for unicast, the UE may determine that the slot set #a1 for the PUCCH in slot n+4 includes slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, and slot n+3. Based on the configured K1 set {2,3} for multicasting, the UE may determine that the slot set #b1 for PUCCH in slot n+4 includes slot n+1 and slot n+2. Thus, the union of slot set #a1 and slot set #b1 includes slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2 and slot n+3, where slot n+1 and slot n+2 are included in both slot set #a1 and slot set #b1.

From time slot n to time slot n+3 in the union of the time slot sets, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in time slot n and time slot n+3 are determined from TDRA table #a1 (e.g., TDRA table 320 in fig. 3), and candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in time slot n+1 and time slot n+2 are determined from the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1 (e.g., TDRA table 330 in fig. 3) (e.g., TDRA table union 340 in fig. 3A). For example, since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in TDRA table 320, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for each of slot n and slot n+3 in slot set #a1. Since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in the TDRA table union 340, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for each of slots n+1 and n+2. One of the two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for slot n+1 (or slot n+2) belongs to slot set #a1 and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for slot n+1 (or slot n+2) belongs to slot set #b1.

For example, assuming there is at most a single Transport Block (TB) per unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH, HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 may be generated as { a0, A1, a2, a3}, where "a0", "A1", "a2", and "a3" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to time slot n, time slot n+1, time slot n+2, and time slot n+3, respectively. HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 may be generated as { B0, B1}, where "B0" and "B1" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to slots n+1 and n+2, respectively. The two codebooks are then concatenated, e.g. the HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 is placed first followed by the HARQ-ACK codebook #b1, or vice versa. For example, two HARQ-ACK codebooks may be concatenated to { a0, a1, a2, a3, b0, b1}, which are transmitted in PUCCH in slot n+4.

The above solution will not introduce unnecessary signaling overhead and will reduce the size of the type 1 HARQ-ACK codebook compared to solutions based on the union of the K1 set for unicast and the K1 set for multicast.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, instead of generating separate HARQ-ACK codebooks for unicast and multicast transmissions, HARQ-ACK feedback for unicast and multicast transmissions may be arranged in a single HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some examples, HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be generated and then concatenated according to the order (e.g., ascending or descending) of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time domain. For example, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions may be arranged according to an order (e.g., ascending or descending) of the slot index of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions. For example, referring back to fig. 2, HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasions in slots n through n+3 may be arranged according to an ascending order of slot indices n through n+3.

In some other examples, the HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasions per slot may be arranged according to predefined rules. For example, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate unicast PDSCH reception occasion may be arranged first followed by the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate multicast PDSCH reception occasion; or vice versa.

For a slot (e.g., slot #m1) included in both a downlink association set for unicast (e.g., slot set #a1) and a downlink association set for multicast (e.g., slot set #b1), HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate unicast PDSCH reception occasions may be placed first and subsequently for candidate multicast PDSCH reception occasions, or vice versa.

The method for generating a single HARQ-ACK codebook is described in further detail below.

In some examples, UE capability should be considered when determining the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot. For example, when the UE does not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may determine one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in slots included only in slot set #a1 or slot set #b1, regardless of the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the corresponding TDRA table. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a TDRA table according to its capabilities. For example, when more than one PDSCH per slot is not supported, the configured TDRA table may include one non-overlapping SLIV.

For slots (e.g., slot #m1) included in both slot set #a1 and slot set #b1, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in slot #m1 may be determined from the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1. Various methods may be employed to determine candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in slot #m1, and will be described in detail below.

After determining the candidate PDSCH reception occasions, HARQ-ACK information bits may be generated for each of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions within each of the slots of the slot set #a1 and the slot set #b1. In other words, HARQ-ACK information bits for each of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities #a1 and #b1 may be generated.

For example, when PDSCH is received in a slot included only in slot set #a1 or slot set #b1, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for corresponding candidate PDSCH reception occasions in this slot according to the decoding result of PDSCH and multiplex the HARQ-ACK information bits in the HARQ-ACK codebook according to the time order. Otherwise, if PDSCH is not received in a slot included only in slot set #a1 or slot set #b1, the UE may generate a NACK bit for the corresponding candidate PDSCH reception occasion in this slot.

The generation of HARQ-ACK feedback for the slots (e.g., slot #m1) contained in both slot set #a1 and slot set #b1, and the determination of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in such slots, will be described in detail below.

Then, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #a1 and #b1 may be arranged according to the chronological order (e.g., ascending or descending order) of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #a1 and #b1.

The determination of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in slot #m1 from the union of the TDRA tables will now be described.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1 is 1 (for example, refer to fig. 3A), two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined in slot #m1. In other words, although at most one PDSCH can be actually transmitted in the slot #m1, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are assumed in the slot #m1. One of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1) belongs to candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1, and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2) belongs to candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1.

In some examples, UE capability should be considered when determining the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot. For example, when the UE does not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may determine two candidate PDSCH reception occasions in slot #m1. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a TDRA table according to its capabilities.

When only a unicast PDSCH is received in slot #m1, this unicast PDSCH may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 and Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the unicast PDSCH on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 according to the decoding result of the unicast PDSCH. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 for padding.

When only the multicast PDSCH is received in slot #m1, this multicast PDSCH may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 and DTX may be assumed on candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 for padding. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the multicast PDSCH on candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 according to the decoding result of the multicast PDSCH.

When PDSCH is not received in slot #m1 (i.e., neither unicast PDSCH nor multicast PDSCH is received), DTX may be assumed on both candidate PDSCH reception occasions #1 and # 2. The UE may generate NACK bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 for padding and for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 for padding.

Then, as described above, in some examples, HARQ-ACK information bits for all candidate PDSCH reception occasions may be arranged according to the order of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time domain. Since slot #m1 includes two candidate PDSCH reception occasions, i.e., candidate PDSCH reception occasions #1 and #2 have the same order in the time domain, the HARQ-ACK information bit for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #1 may be placed first followed by the HARQ-ACK information bit for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 in some examples. In some other examples, the HARQ-ACK information bit for candidate PDSCH reception occasion #2 may be placed first and then the HARQ-ACK information bit for candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1.

In some other examples, as described above, HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate PDSCH reception occasions per slot may be arranged according to predefined rules.

In this way, the codebook size of the HARQ-ACK codebook for both unicast and multicast transmissions will not change, whether PDSCH is received or not, which will avoid any misunderstanding of the HARQ-ACK codebook between UE and BS.

From time slot n to time slot n+3 in the union of the time slot sets, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in time slot n and time slot n+3 are determined from TDRA table #a1 (e.g., TDRA table 320 in fig. 3), and candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in time slot n+1 and time slot n+2 are determined from the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1 (e.g., TDRA table 330 in fig. 3) (e.g., TDRA table union 340 in fig. 3A).

For example, since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in TDRA table 320, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for each of slot n and slot n+3 in slot set #a1. Since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in the TDRA table union 340, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for each of slots n+1 and n+2. One of the two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for slot n+1 (or slot n+2) belongs to slot set #a1 and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for slot n+1 (or slot n+2) belongs to slot set #b1.

Assuming that there is at most a single Transport Block (TB) per unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH, a single HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH may be generated as { a0, a1/NACK, b0/NACK, a2/NACK, b1/NACK, a3} according to the ascending order of all candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time domain.

In the HARQ-ACK codebook, "a0" and "a3" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to the unicast PDSCH in time slot n and time slot n+3, respectively. "a1" in "a1/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to the unicast PDSCH in the slot n+1 when the unicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "a1/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when the unicast PDSCH is not received in the slot n+1. Similarly, "b0" in "b0/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to the multicast PDSCH in time slot n+1 when the multicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "b0/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when the multicast PDSCH is not received in time slot n+1. "a2" in "a2/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to the unicast PDSCH in the slot n+2 when the unicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "a2/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when the unicast PDSCH is not received in the slot n+2. "b1" in "b1/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to the multicast PDSCH in the slot n+2 when the multicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "b1/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when the multicast PDSCH is not received in the slot n+2.

In some other examples, for example, according to a predefined rule, HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate unicast PDSCH reception occasions are arranged first followed by HARQ-ACK information bits for candidate multicast PDSCH reception occasions, a single HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH may be generated as { a0, a1/NACK, a2/NACK, a3, b0/NACK, b1/NACK }.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the union of TDRA table #a1 and TDRA table #b1 is 1 (e.g., referring to fig. 3A), a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined in slot #m1.

In some examples, UE capability should be considered when determining the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot. For example, when the UE does not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may determine a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion in slot #m1. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a TDRA table according to its capabilities.

This single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be assumed to be for unicast or multicast. That is, it may be included in the candidate PDSCH reception timing #a1 or the candidate PDSCH reception timing #b1.

When only a unicast PDSCH is received in slot #m1, this unicast PDSCH may be assumed on a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the unicast PDSCH on a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion according to the decoding result of the unicast PDSCH.

When only the multicast PDSCH is received in slot #m1, this multicast PDSCH may be assumed on a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. The UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for the multicast PDSCH on a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion according to the decoding result of the multicast PDSCH.

When PDSCH is not received in slot #m1 (i.e., neither unicast PDSCH nor multicast PDSCH is received), the UE may generate NACK bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion for padding.

Then, as described above, HARQ-ACK information bits for all candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be arranged according to the order of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time domain.

For example, since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in TDRA table 320, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for each of slot n and slot n+3 in slot set #a1. Since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in the TDRA table union 340, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for each of slots n+1 and n+2.

Assuming that there is at most a single Transport Block (TB) per unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH, a single HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH may be generated as { a0, a1/b0/NACK, a2/b1/NACK, a3} according to the ascending order of all candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time domain.

In the HARQ-ACK codebook, "a0" and "a3" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to the unicast PDSCH in time slot n and time slot n+3, respectively. "a1" in "a1/b0/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to a unicast PDSCH in time slot n+1 when a unicast PDSCH is received, "b0" in "a1/b0/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to a multicast PDSCH in time slot n+1 when a multicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "a1/b0/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when neither a unicast PDSCH nor a multicast PDSCH is received in time slot n+1. Similarly, "a2" in "a2/b1/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to a unicast PDSCH in time slot n+2 when a unicast PDSCH is received, "b1" in "a2/b1/NACK" represents an ACK or NACK bit corresponding to a multicast PDSCH in time slot n+2 when a multicast PDSCH is received, and "NACK" in "a2/b1/NACK" represents a NACK bit for padding when neither a unicast PDSCH nor a multicast PDSCH is received in time slot n+2.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the union of the K1 set for unicast transmission and the K1 set for multicast transmission and the union of the TDRA table for unicast transmission and the TDRA table for multicast transmission may not be employed.

For example, multiple candidate PDSCH reception occasions with HARQ-ACK feedback to be multiplexed in the same PUCCH in a slot (e.g., "slot #u1") may include a candidate PDSCH reception occasion for unicast transmission (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2") and a candidate PDSCH reception occasion for multicast transmission (hereinafter, "candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2"). The candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2 may be included in a downlink association set (hereinafter, "slot set #a2") for unicast. The candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2 may be included in a downlink association set (hereinafter, "slot set #b2") for multicast.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the set of slots #a2 may be determined from a HARQ-ACK feedback timing set (hereinafter, "K1 set #a2") for unicast transmissions (or candidate PDSCH reception occasions #a2). The set of slots #b2 may be determined according to a HARQ-ACK feedback timing set (hereinafter, "K1 set #b2") configured for multicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2).

In each slot in the slot set #a2, a candidate PDSCH reception occasion is determined from a TDRA table (hereinafter, "TDRA table #a2") for unicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2). In each slot in the slot set #b2, a candidate PDSCH reception occasion is determined from a TDRA table (hereinafter, "TDRA table #b2") for multicast transmission (or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2).

In some examples, UE capability should be considered when determining the number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the scheduled slot. For example, when the UE does not support reception of more than one PDSCH per slot, the UE may determine one candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the scheduled slot. In some cases, the UE may be configured with a TDRA table according to its capabilities.

The HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast (hereinafter, "HARQ-ACK codebook #a2") may be generated according to the K1 set #a2 and the TDRA table #a2. The HARQ-ACK codebook for multicasting (hereinafter, "HARQ-ACK codebook #b2") may be generated according to the K1 set #b2 and the TDRA table #b2. Then, HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 and HARQ-ACK codebook #b2 may be arranged into one HARQ-ACK codebook carried by PUCCH to be transmitted in slot #u1. In some examples, HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 may be arranged before HARQ-ACK codebook #b2. In some other examples, HARQ-ACK codebook #b2 may be arranged before HARQ-ACK codebook #b2.

The method for generating the two HARQ-ACK codebooks is described in further detail below.

First, for PUCCH to be transmitted in slot #u1, slot set #a2 may be determined from K1 set #a2. Candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2 in the slot set #a2 may be determined from the TDRA table #a2. A HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 may be generated for each candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2.

Similarly, for PUCCH to be transmitted in slot #u1, slot set #b2 may be determined from K1 set #b2. Candidate PDSCH reception occasions #b2 in the slot set #b2 may be determined from the TDRA table #b2. A HARQ-ACK codebook #b2 may be generated for each of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions #b2.

HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 may then be concatenated with HARQ-ACK codebook #b2, e.g., HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 is placed first followed by HARQ-ACK codebook #b2 or vice versa, for transmission on PUCCH in slot #u1.

Referring back to fig. 2, based on the configured K1 set {1,2,3,4} for unicast, the UE may determine that the slot set #a2 for the PUCCH in slot n+4 includes slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, and slot n+3. Based on the configured K1 set {2,3} for multicasting, the UE may determine that the slot set #b2 for PUCCH in slot n+4 includes slot n+1 and slot n+2.

Candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each slot in the set of slots #a2 may be determined from the TDRA table #a2 (e.g., TDRA table 320 in fig. 3). Candidate PDSCH reception opportunities for each slot in the set of slots #b2 may be determined from the TDRA table #b2 (e.g., TDRA table 330 in fig. 3).

For example, since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in TDRA table 320, a single candidate PDSCH reception opportunity may be determined for each of slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, and slot n+3 in slot set #A2. Since one non-overlapping SLIV is included in TDRA table 330, a single candidate PDSCH reception opportunity may be determined for each of slots n+1 and n+2 in slot set #B2.

Assuming that there is at most a single Transport Block (TB) per unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH, HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 may be generated as { a0, a1, A2, a3} according to the ascending order of all candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time domain, where "a0", "a1", "A2" and "a3" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to time slot n, time slot n+1, time slot n+2 and time slot n+3, respectively. HARQ-ACK codebook #b2 may be generated as { B0, B1}, where "B0" and "B1" are ACK or NACK bits corresponding to time slot n+1 and time slot n+2, respectively. The two codebooks are then concatenated, e.g. the HARQ-ACK codebook #a2 is placed first followed by the HARQ-ACK codebook #b2, or vice versa. For example, two HARQ-ACK codebooks may be concatenated to { a0, a1, a2, a3, b0, b1}, which are transmitted in PUCCH in slot n+4.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure 400 for wireless communication, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure apply to the embodiment shown in fig. 4. In some examples, the procedure may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 101 in fig. 1).

Referring to fig. 4, in operation 411, the UE may determine that HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1 or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2) and for a PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1 or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2) is to be multiplexed in the PUCCH in a first slot (e.g., slot #u1 or slot n+4 in fig. 2). The PDSCH on each candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions may be scrambled by a first RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI) specific to the UE and the PDSCH on each candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the second plurality of PDSCH may be scrambled by a second RNTI (e.g., G-RNTI for multicasting) common to a group of UEs including the UE.

In operation 413, the UE may transmit a PUCCH in the first slot.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions may be included in a first set of slots (e.g., slot set #a1 or slot set #a2) and the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are included in a second set of slots (e.g., slot set #b1 or slot set #b2).

The first set of timeslots may be determined based on a first set of HARQ-ACK feedback timing configured for a first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., K1 set #a1 or K1 set #a2) and the second set of timeslots may be determined based on a second set of HARQ-ACK feedback timing configured for a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., K1 set #b1 or K1 set #b2).

In response to a slot being included only in the first set of slots, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the slot from a first TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #a1 or TDRA table #a2) configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions. In response to the time slot being included only in the second set of time slots, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time slot from a second TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #b1 or TDRA table #b2) configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions. For example, referring back to fig. 3, from TDRA table 320 or TDRA table 330, one candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for the slot. Referring to fig. 3B, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for the slot according to the TDRA table 350.

Referring to fig. 4, in response to a time slot being included in both the first set of time slots and the second set of time slots, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time slot from a union of the first TDRA table and the second TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table union 340 in fig. 3A).

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions from the union of the first and second TDRA tables by: in response to the number of non-overlapping SLIV's in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are determined in slots (e.g., slot #M1) included in both the first and second slot sets. For example, referring back to fig. 3A, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for the slot according to the TDRA table union 340.

One of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1) may be included in the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2) may be included in the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions from the union of the first and second TDRA tables by: in response to the number of non-overlapping SLIV's in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion is determined in a slot (e.g., slot #M1) included in both the first and second slot sets. For example, referring back to fig. 3A, from the TDRA table union 340, one candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for the slot. A single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be included in the first or second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

In response to receiving a single PDSCH scrambled by the first RNTI in a slot included in both the first and second sets of slots, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. In response to receiving a single PDSCH scrambled by the second RNTI in a time slot included in both the first set of time slots and the second set of time slots, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. In response to not receiving PDSCH in slots included in both the first and second sets of slots, the UE may generate NACK bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PUCCH may carry a first HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., HARQ-ACK codebook #a1 or HARQ-ACK codebook #a2) for a first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and a second HARQ-ACK codebook (e.g., HARQ-ACK codebook #b1 or HARQ-ACK codebook #b2) for a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions. In some examples, the first HARQ-ACK codebook may be arranged before the second HARQ-ACK codebook in the PUCCH. In some other examples, the second HARQ-ACK codebook may be arranged before the first HARQ-ACK codebook in the PUCCH.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for each of the first or second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities. The UE may further arrange HARQ-ACK information bits in the HARQ-ACK codebook for candidate PDSCH reception occasions among the first set of slots and the second set of slots according to an order (e.g., ascending or descending) of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time domain or a predefined rule. The HARQ-ACK codebook may be carried in the PUCCH.

In some examples, the UE may arrange HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions according to their order in the time domain by: the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions are arranged according to the order of the slot index of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to a time slot included in a combination of the first set of time slots and the second set of time slots including a first candidate PDSCH reception occasion (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 1) of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and a second candidate PDSCH reception occasion (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion # 2) of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions, HARQ-ACK information bits for the first candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be arranged before HARQ-ACK information bits for the second candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the HARQ-ACK codebook. Alternatively, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the second candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be arranged before the HARQ-ACK information bits for the first candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2) in each slot of the first set of slots (e.g., set of slots #a2) from non-overlapping SLIVs in a first TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #a2) configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

The UE may further determine a candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2) in each slot of the second set of slots (e.g., set of slots #b2) from a non-overlapping SLIV in a second TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #b2) configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

The number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the slots in the first set of slots may be equal to the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the first TDRA table. The number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the slots in the second set of slots may be equal to the number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the second TDRA table.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the sequence of operations in the exemplary procedure 400 may be changed and that some operations in the exemplary procedure 400 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure 500 for wireless communication, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure apply to the embodiment shown in fig. 5. In some examples, the procedure may be performed by a BS (e.g., BS102 in fig. 1).

Referring to fig. 5, in operation 511, the BS may indicate that HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a1 or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2) and HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b1 or candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2) is to be multiplexed in the PUCCH in a first slot (e.g., slot #u1 or slot n+4 in fig. 2). The PDSCH on each candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions may be scrambled by a first RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI) specific to the UE, and the PDSCH on each candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the second plurality of PDSCH may be scrambled by a second RNTI (e.g., G-RNTI for multicasting) common to a group of UEs including the UE.

In operation 513, the BS may receive the PUCCH in the first slot.

In response to the time slots being included only in the first set of time slots, the BS may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time slots from a first TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #a1 or TDRA table #a2) configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions. In response to the time slots being included only in the second set of time slots, the BS may determine candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time slots from a second TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #b1 or TDRA table #b2) configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities. For example, referring back to fig. 3, from TDRA table 320 or TDRA table 330, one candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for the slot. Referring to fig. 3B, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for the slot according to the TDRA table 350.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may determine candidate PDSCH reception opportunities from the union of the first and second TDRA tables by: in response to the number of non-overlapping SLIV's in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are determined in slots (e.g., slot #M1) included in both the first and second slot sets. For example, referring back to fig. 3A, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities may be determined for the slot according to the TDRA table union 340.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may determine candidate PDSCH reception opportunities from the union of the first and second TDRA tables by: in response to the number of non-overlapping SLIV's in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot, a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion is determined in a slot (e.g., slot #M1) included in both the first and second slot sets. For example, referring back to fig. 3A, from the TDRA table union 340, one candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be determined for the slot. A single candidate PDSCH reception occasion may be included in the first or second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may transmit a single PDSCH scrambled by the first RNTI in a slot included in both the first set of slots and the second set of slots. The PUCCH may carry HARQ-ACK information bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may transmit a single PDSCH scrambled by the second RNTI in a slot included in both the first set of slots and the second set of slots. The PUCCH may carry HARQ-ACK information bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may not transmit the PDSCH in the slots included in both the first set of slots and the second set of slots. The PUCCH may carry NACK bits for a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PUCCH may carry a HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK information bits for each of the first or second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions. The HARQ-ACK information bits in the HARQ-ACK codebook for candidate PDSCH reception opportunities among the first set of slots and the second set of slots are arranged according to an order (e.g., ascending or descending) of the candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the time domain or a predefined rule.

In some examples, the HARQ-ACK information bits for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions are arranged according to an order of slot indices of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the BS may determine candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #a2) in each slot of the first set of slots (e.g., set of slots #a2) from non-overlapping SLIVs in the first TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #a2) configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

The BS may further determine a candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions (e.g., candidate PDSCH reception occasion #b2) in each slot of the second set of slots (e.g., slot set #b2) from a non-overlapping SLIV in a second TDRA table (e.g., TDRA table #b2) configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the sequence of operations in the exemplary procedure 500 may be changed and that some operations in the exemplary procedure 500 may be eliminated or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary device 600, according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the device 600 may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium 601, at least one receive circuit 602, at least one transmit circuit 604, and at least one processor 606 coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium 601, the receive circuit 602, and the transmit circuit 604. The apparatus 600 may be a base station side apparatus (e.g., BS) or a communication device (e.g., UE).

Although elements such as the at least one processor 606, the transmission circuit 604, and the reception circuit 602 are depicted in the singular in this figure, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In some embodiments of the present application, the receive circuit 602 and the transmit circuit 604 are combined into a single device, such as a transceiver. In particular embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus 600 may further include an input device, memory, and/or other components.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium 601 may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to implement the method as described above with respect to a UE. For example, computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 606 to interact with the receive circuitry 602 and the transmit circuitry 604 in order to perform the operations described in fig. 1-5 with respect to the UE.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the non-transitory computer-readable medium 601 may have stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to implement the method as described above with respect to the BS. For example, computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 606 to interact with the receive circuitry 602 and the transmit circuitry 604 in order to perform the operations described in fig. 1-5 with respect to the BS.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the operations or steps of a method described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Additionally, in some aspects, the operations or steps of a method may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

Although the present disclosure has been described with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in the other embodiments. Moreover, all elements of each figure are not necessary for operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, those skilled in the art to which the disclosed embodiments pertains will be able to make and use the teachings of the disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, the embodiments of the disclosure set forth herein are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

In this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Elements beginning with "a (a, an)" or the like do not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in a process, method, article, or device that comprises the elements without further constraints. Moreover, the term another is defined as at least a second or more. The term "having" and the like as used herein is defined as "comprising". Expressions such as "a and/or B" or "at least one of a and B" may include any and all combinations of words recited with the expressions. For example, the expression "a and/or B" or "at least one of a and B" may include A, B or both a and B. The terms "first", "second", etc. are used only to clearly illustrate embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the spirit of the present application.

Claims

1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

Determining that hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback for a PDSCH on each of a first plurality of candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception occasions and HARQ-ACK feedback for a PDSCH on each of a second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are to be multiplexed in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) in a first time slot, wherein the PDSCH on each of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a first Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) specific to the UE and the PDSCH on each of the second plurality of PDSCH reception occasions is scrambled by a second RNTI common to a group of UEs including the UE; and

Transmitting the PUCCH in the first slot.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are included in a first set of timeslots and the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are included in a second set of timeslots.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first set of timeslots is determined based on a first set of HARQ-ACK feedback timing configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and the second set of timeslots is determined based on a second set of HARQ-ACK feedback timing configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

determining candidate PDSCH reception occasions of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time slot according to a first Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) table configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in response to the time slot being included only in the first set of time slots;

determining candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the slot according to a second TDRA table configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in response to slots being included only in the second set of slots; and

In response to a slot being included in both the first set of slots and the second set of slots, candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in the slot are determined from a union of the first TDRA table and the second TDRA table.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining candidate PDSCH reception occasions from a union of the first and second TDRA tables comprises:

in response to a number of non-overlapping Start and Length Indicator Values (SLIVs) in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot, two candidate PDSCH reception opportunities are determined in the slots included in both the first and second sets of slots.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein one of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions is included in the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and the other of the two candidate PDSCH reception occasions is included in the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining candidate PDSCH reception occasions from a union of the first and second TDRA tables comprises:

a single candidate PDSCH reception occasion is determined in the slots included in both the first and second sets of slots in response to a number of non-overlapping Start and Length Indicator Values (SLIVs) in the union of the first and second TDRA tables being equal to 1 or the UE supporting at most one PDSCH per slot.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the single candidate PDSCH reception occasion is included in the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions or the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

generating HARQ-ACK information bits for the single candidate PDSCH reception occasion in response to receiving a single PDSCH scrambled by the first RNTI in the slots included in both the first and second sets of slots;

Generating HARQ-ACK information bits for the single candidate PDSCH reception occasion in response to receiving a single PDSCH scrambled by the second RNTI in the slots included in both the first and second sets of slots; and

A Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) bit for the single candidate PDSCH reception occasion is generated in response to not receiving PDSCH in the slots contained in both the first set of slots and the second set of slots.

10. The method of claim 1 or 5, wherein the PUCCH carries a first HARQ-ACK codebook for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and a second HARQ-ACK codebook for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions.

11. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

generating HARQ-ACK information bits for each candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions or the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions; and

The HARQ-ACK information bits in a HARQ-ACK codebook for the candidate PDSCH reception occasions among the first set of slots and the second set of slots are arranged according to an order of the candidate PDSCH reception occasions in the time domain or a predefined rule, wherein the HARQ-ACK codebook is carried in the PUCCH.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions and a second candidate PDSCH reception occasion of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception occasions are included in response to a time slot included in the union of the first set of time slots and the second set of time slots.

The HARQ-ACK information bits for the first candidate PDSCH reception occasion are arranged before the HARQ-ACK information bits for the second candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the HARQ-ACK codebook or the HARQ-ACK information bits for the second candidate PDSCH reception occasion are arranged before the HARQ-ACK information bits for the first candidate PDSCH reception occasion in the HARQ-ACK codebook.

13. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

determining candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in each slot of the first set of slots according to non-overlapping Start and Length Indicator Values (SLIVs) in a first Time Domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) table configured for the first plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities; and

Candidate PDSCH reception opportunities of the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities in each slot of the second set of slots are determined according to non-overlapping SLIVs in a second TDRA table configured for the second plurality of candidate PDSCH reception opportunities.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in slots in the first set of slots is equal to a number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the first TDRA table and a number of candidate PDSCH reception occasions in slots in the second set of slots is equal to a number of non-overlapping SLIVs in the second TDRA table.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon;

at least one receiving circuit;

at least one transmission circuit; and

At least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receive circuit, and the at least one transmit circuit,

wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1-14.